Cave Play

We planned an outing for later this week but the weather report made it clear--we needed to go today! (Wed, 26-Dec). So off we went!

DeSoto Caverns is a large cave that they've turned into an activity park. I realized this trip just how much I'm interested in history. I love to hear the stories about a place! While this was a fun excursion, the delivery was, I'm afraid, somewhat lacking on that front. There were some interesting tidbits, such as the cave was considered a sacred area of healing by Native Americans hundreds of years ago. Some of the stories though felt a bit... dubious. Still, it was a very enjoyable day!

The cave tour kicked off with a great water fountain and laser lights show! There's a stage and rows of seating in this large cavern.

They're all decorated for their "Christmas in the Cave" event which appeared to be quite the production. That would be more people than we wanted to deal with however. Day after Christmas was *perfect*!

A stalactite and stalagmite about to touch. In, oh, a thousand plus years or so.

Some seasonal cave waterfalls made no-longer-just-seasonal. While better for tourism, it also helps keep the place from flooding during heavy rains.

Following this energetic cutie!

The ceiling of the main cavern was spikey!

The cave itself is mostly the initial large cavern some 300 feet long and 120 feet high. There's a trail going back (where the waterfall is) that winds another few hundred feet or so. Then there's a small crawling-only trail that goes on for 12 miles and comes out in Talladega National Forest. Thankfully, that wasn't part of the tour!

Outside the cave was there was more fun to be had. Each kid got five activities to choose.

Benjo & I played mini-golf. It was a small course, but this hole is the coolest! Not just one jump over the water, but two! My kid self would have been over the moon about this! ...and maybe my kid self is still mostly who I am. #icanneitherconfirmnordeny #holeintwo

This girl wanted to play on the course. Or was it a playground. Why do you gotta choose?!

The cool thing about going on a sparse-traffic day? Not only no lines, but they didn't really give any time limits either. These girls loved these scooters and played on them for a good long time!

I think this was Ben's favorite ride. His face says plenty!

Amy & Noel went for a spin. Eliza wanted to too, but she wasn't quite tall enough yet.

Does her hair remind you of anyone? Perhaps someone from The Incredibles?

This girl's favorite moments were in the beach-ball play area! There were a couple strong fans in the floor that blue the balls up into the air. I took... a lot of pictures.

So I'm sharing a few of them.

Because hello! SO cute! She was shrieking in delight. No really... shrieking. It was loud.

Benjo couldn't stand seeing us have all the fun, so he decided to switch one of his choices for the beach ball room. Not a bad choice for him!

To my surprise, no one wanted to do the maze with me, so I took this girlie while the others panned for gold and gems.

It was a pretty good maze. Sizeable and with enough complexity to be fun, as long as I didn't peek too much from the towers. I let this girl choose most of our turns. She's a good leader!

Overall, the experience is, I feel, a bit overpriced, but I'm glad we dd it--definitely worth it once at least. Especially on a day that wasn't too busy!

One last neat little story. As we were nearing the end of our day there, Bonnie realized that Noel was missing an earring. It wasn't a large one--a little black rose. Her best guess was that it fell out during that gyroscope ride. We didn't have much hope but decided to at least go look. When we got there, someone was just walking into the ride. I said "Excuse me, she lost an earring and we think it might of been on this ride. Do you mind if we look for it real qu--there it is." I saw it on the wood platform just behind the ride. It didn't have the back with it, so Noel showed me her other ear to see what the back looked like. I turned and said "the back is just one of those little silver--there it is." Pointing again right to it, on a board of the wood platform just in front of the ride.

This... this is not normal. I can't find the milk when it's on the table right in front of me. No, really; that happens more often than I care to admit!

As we walked away, Noel said "Wow Dad, you have a good eye!" I told her "I don't think that was normal, sweetie. I can't normally do that. I recommend in your prayers tonight saying some extra thank-you's to Heavenly Father."

I believe this. I believe He cares about us, his children. I believe He cares about the things we care about, even something as eternally insignificant as an inexpensive earring.